Eden Salvatore

The little brat was screaming bloody murder. He balled up his tiny fists and threw them in the air, kicking and punching like he was mad. I held him up into the air, looking at him dead in the eyes. I watched as his chubby cheeks turned redder and redder by the passing seconds while tears streamed out of his huge grey eyes.

He was even more annoying than his father. I made a mental note to ask my sister in law what went wrong with her second child because Madeline turned out to be an absolute angel.

" Do you want milk? " I asked and he cried even louder. Christ. I didn't even know where his milk was.

I twirled his body from side to side, hoping that there was a button I could push to shut him up for good. Madeline tugged on my belt and I looked down to lock gaze with her. She stared up at me with a frown on her lips, clearly disappointed and unimpressed. I muttered curses inside my head.

" What are you doing, uncle Eden? " she asked, looking between me and her brother.

" Do you know what he wants, pumpkin? " I asked.

She stared at her brother for a moment before scratching her head. I waited patiently while she cocked her head to the side, tapping her chin repeatedly with her fore finger as if she was in a very deep thought.

I made peace with the fact that I could go deaf after this because the bloody kid could really fucking scream, he might as well make a career out of it and be an opera singer.

" Eden. " Adalina called out from the top of the staircase.

My head snapped up to the sound of her voice. Panic laced in between her words and she looked rather frantic as she picked her dress up and skipped down to me. I covered Aiden's ears and muttered curses under my breath. I hated the fear that was glinting her eyes and the sight of her body slightly shaking with anxiety.

I wanted to run to her and tell her that she was safe, that there was no danger except the ticking little human bomb I was holding in my arms.

" Auntie Addie. " Madeline squealed at the sight of my wife. She ran as fast as her feet could carry her and stopped just a feet before her aunt, gracefully dipping her knee down in a curtsy manner.

I watched in amusement as Adalina threw her head back, chuckling shakily at my cheeky niece. She bent down and gathered her into her arms, picking her up. " It's so nice to see you again, sweetheart. "

She buried her face into Madeline's hair before giving her a kiss, hugging her into her chest. She looked up after a moment and our eyes met. She glanced between me and the kids. A wave of relief flashed in her eyes and I saw her chest raised up and down as if she had been holding her breath.

Turning her body around, she unloaded the gun, I didn't even notice was in her hand, and threw it up to Thane who caught it with an ease. Madeline noticed him by then and started to wiggle her way down my wife's hip.

The poor guy barely had time to put away his weapons when the little girl lunged herself into his arms. " Uncle Thane. " she squealed as he started to throw her up and down.

Adalina watched in amusement before turning back to me. She frowned at the crying baby in arms then proceeded to glare at me as if I had done something to him. I tore my gaze away from her as she started to stroll toward us. I sighed at his reddened face, " Why can't you be happy like your sister? Why do you hate me? "

He cried even harder, trying to kick his chunky feet in my face. I was certain he had made it his first life mission to make mine miserable. He was after all his stupid father's son. I wouldn't even be surprised if Nicholas taught him this.

" It's okay, baby. It's okay. " Adalina cooed and took the devil's spawn from me, rocking him up and down on her hip.

I thought I was baby. All humans did was lie.

Aiden stopped crying and stayed still as he stared fascinatingly at her, sucking on the thumb that he had shoved in his mouth a couple of seconds ago. I narrowed my eyes him, slightly offended.

" Aw. You're a handsome little thing, aren't you? " she said while planting kisses all over his face.

I silently huffed, leaning against the doorframe with my hands in my slack's pocket. " He looks like an Oompa Loompa. "

She glared at me again then covered his ears with one hand. " Don't listen to him. He's mean. " Aiden nodded his head in agreement.

" I bet you were an ugly baby. " she squinted her eyes at me before walking away with the giggling child.

I frowned at her back then turned to type in the door codes. " I wasn't ugly. " The door slammed shut as I picked up the baby bags and followed them inside.

It was a normal day in another Salvatore household where the irresponsible adults played an inappropriate movie on the television for the insane younger ones. Adalina stared at me for a moment with her jaw hanging, clearly unimpressed by the choices I made.

But, Madeline could be very convincing and if the four years old wanted to watch the hunger game who was I to deny her wish. A little barbarian movie wouldn't hurt, she already had her parent's gene running through her vein.

" Seriously? Can't we be normal and watch frozen or something? " the duty huffed, leaning her back against my leg as she sat on the carpet with Madeline and Aiden.

Madeline grinned up at me before giving me a high five. " She'll get used to it. " she giggled, throwing a fistful of caramel popcorn into her mouth.

" Aiden is not watching this. He's barely one. " Adalina frowned down at the baby in her laps.

Chuckling under my breath, I leaned over and whispered into her hair. " He is the future Don in the making, darling wife. "

She looked up at me, still scowling. " What does that have to do with this? And, I thought Mads was the heir. "

" Madeline is her mother's heiress way before she even knew her father. " I said and she nodded her head, shifting her attention back to Aiden.

There was a moment between the way her skin felt on mine, the feeling of her words caressed my bones and the fact that she was an angel on earth. I watched how gentle she was with my nephew as she cradled him to her chest, feeding him his formula while she tried to shield the curious baby from watching the cruel slaying on screen.

The side of my lips curled up involuntarily at her. She was all I could see and the noises faded away into the background.

" You're staring. " she said, laying her head on my lap to look up at me.

" You're prettier when you don't open your mouth. " I whispered back as I brushed her hair out of her face.

It was silence for a moment. She stared at me with amusement glinting across her eyes. Tension hung in the air, she brought her free hand up and pulled my face down to her. I kissed her, teasing her lower lip with the tip of my tongue. " Ass. You're lucky I like you. " she breathed into my mouth.

I grumbled back between the kiss before a little fist landed on my cheekbone, pushing my face away. I pulled away and narrowed my eyes at Aiden. He stared back at me before he crawled up my wife and started kissing her face.

" No wonder I love your sister more than you. " I huffed, wiping her lipstick off of my mouth.

Mads put her popcorn bowl down on the table then turned toward me. She patted my knee gently, sending me an assuring smile. " It's okay, Uncle Eden. He did it to my daddy too. "

" I'm sure your dad loves that. " I said, bringing up her tiny hand to my lips.

" Dad got mad and mommy had to put him on a timeout. " the little pumpkin threw her head back, giggling like mad. " That's why they're going on a date far away so we can't bother them. "

I cocked my head at her confession and Adalina gasped beside her. " So, they're not really on a business trip? "

" Nah. " Mads waved her hand before turning back to the movie.

I was going to murder the bastard and feed him to Elliot. I watched the movie with the kids while planning his painful murder in my head. He was a tad lucky that I actually liked his kids, one more than the other of course.

By the time the movie came to an end the duty had made my niece her favorite lunch, a glass of unhealthy pink smoothie with a peanut butter jelly sandwich and multiple dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets. And, nothing for me because she somehow forgot about her own husband. I almost kissed and strangled her neck in appreciation.

Thane however managed to order us lunch before disappearing into the backyard again, no doubts having the time of his life choosing and hiring his new bitches to order around with my money.

The clock hit two o'clock when Aiden stared to become fussy, wrinkling his body in my wife's arms. We watched in horror as he scrunched his face up before crying like he was dying. Adalina decided then that it was time for his nap so we settled back in the living room.

I spent my life pretending the people around me ceased to exist. It was only recently that it came as a shock to me that being ignored suck like a motherfucker, I had to learn the hard way and I almost cared about other people's feelings.

The three of them were wrapped up in a huge blanket while I sat on the other end of the couch, staring. She laid the two on either side of her shoulder and placed a book on her knees, reading them her childhood favorite story. Like I wasn't here.

" The princess couldn't stand it no longer so she killed her prince, stole his kingdom and lived happily ever after with her talking teacups. The end. "

Aiden was dead asleep with his thumb, tucked between his lips. She planted a kiss on his head before tilting her head sideway to look at his sister. Madeline was still in a daze as she looked up at her aunt with her big Salvatore grey eyes.

" Wow. That was the best. " she murmured softly in her sleepy voice. " My daddy always made them up but I don't want to hurt his feeling. "

" Eden, a little help here? " the duty glared me as she struggled to untangle herself from the kids after they both fell asleep.

I stood up, cocking an eyebrow at her. " You remember I was here too? "

" Help me up and I'll cuddle with you next, jealous asshole. " she rolled her eyes.

She lied. Again. I barely pulled her to my arms when her phone rang, reminding her that she had planned a meeting with her mother and the royal assholes. I looked at her blankly while she kissed my jaw, cheeks and lips, promising that she would be back before I even noticed. I pretended that I didn't care.

" Tell me that you'll miss me. " she smiled up at me.

I stared down at her for second then dipped my head down to kiss her forehead. " Tell the assholes I will skin them alive if they touch a hair on your head. "

She laughed, slipping into the coat that Thane had handed her. " I'm serious. " I deadpanned.

" Don't burn the house down and be nice to Aiden. " she stood on her toes and gave me one last kiss.

I flicked her forehead, scowling at her lack of faith in me. " Get lost. "

The place felt cold without her. I stared down at my sleeping niece and nephew before sitting down beside them. I opened my laptop and started going through emails again. My father's file came up and looked through it thoroughly, checking every little details. This had been the first check up that I wasn't there to do it for him myself.

I sighed, raking a hand through my hair when another email came up. Ace and Elliot had managed to hack into the royal system with a little help from their friends and Ryan. Missing tax money, impulsive spending on extravagant designer stuffs, suspicious dead people records, and weird security system that wasn't hired by the king and queen.

Uneasy feeling struck in my stomach as I ran a hand down my face. I shouldn't have sent her there. I was about to pull my phone out of my pocket when the doorbell rang.

" What? " I snapped, kicking the front door opened.

A pair of blue-grey eyes blinked at my outburst. I narrowed my eyes down at the girl in front of me, wondering how the fuck did she find my address. Then my eyes landed on the pin on her shirt. She was one of the interns at the hospital.

" Who are you? " I asked, glaring at her.

She stared at my face for what seemed like eternity before she finally decided to answer the fucking question. " Josephine, Josephine Delilah. You were my senior in meds school. I was recently hired as an intern at your hospital. "

" I didn't ask for your life story. " I grumbled under my breath. " Why are you here? "

" You don't remember me? I was one of your assistants for one of your researches. " she spoke again.

" I don't care. " I stared blankly at her face. " If you have no business here, leave. "

She stood there unfazed, like she had known me all her life and understood me as a person. At this point, I was irritated by her whole existence.

" Actually I was sent here to show you a patient file. He is in a very critical condition. You're his best shot but you haven't been to work lately. " she said, holding out the file in her hand.

I glanced between the file and her annoying face before sighing loudly. She knew she would have to guide me through the patient's condition outside the papers which meant she had to stay and talk to me and my wife was going to fucking murder her or me if I remembered the last encounter with a nurse correctly.

" You have five minutes. " I muttered, turning around to close the door.

" You're not going to invite me in? " she frowned, taking her laptop out of her bag.

" No. "

The patient was in deep shit and even deeper as I went farther through his file. I listened as the intern explained how he reacted to the treatment they had been giving him at the hospital and his condition after taking heavy meds. Five minutes turned into a couple of hours, I kept glancing between the papers and at the living room window to see if the little Salvatores were still sleeping.

I sat down on the front porch with the folder on balancing on my knees as I pointed out what they should do in the next treatment and advise to discuss about the possibility of a surgery in the future with the patient's relative. I didn't show it but I was impressed when she started taking notes in her book as I went on without me scolding her to.

The sun was resting on top of the tall tree of our front yard and was turning the sky orange by time I finished with the file. My eyes were burning and my shoulder tensed under her head when I noticed she had fallen asleep on it. I cursed out loud, trying to move away as the car pulled through the gate. Fuck me.

Adalina looked exhausted, stepping out of the car with Thane's help. She looked between me and the intern with a blank expression. I moved away so fast that the intern stumbled over to the ground, hitting her head on the brick.

" Ow. " the intern, whatever her name was, groaned on the ground, rubbing her head.

" Adalina. " I cleared my throat as she walked up to the porch with a nervous Thane trailing closely behind his lady boss.

" I'm so divorcing you, Eden Salvatore. "

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